Chapter 80: Dead Serpent

<Ferocious Beast: Silver Serpent>

<Poison Talent: D+ Grade> <Devour>

<Rank: Mid-Silver>

Blood pooled beneath the massive serpent’s corpse, steam rising where it contacted the earth. The creature’s death throes had finally ceased, leaving ten meters of scales sprawled across broken ground.

Ethan wiped his daggers clean, silver energy still cascading from his form as he studied the fallen beast.

Ruan surveyed the corpse before turning away. “Take it. You need it.”

Ethan’s eyebrows rose slightly. A silver-rank core represented wealth beyond calculation—yet the general offered it without hesitation.

“You earned it,” Ruan added, noting his surprise. “I merely delivered the final strike.”

Without further debate, Ethan knelt beside the massive head, daggers finding the precise spot where the core resided.

He pocketed the core for later consumption. He also removed some things from the storage ring and stored the body for later talent extraction.

His attention returned to the sky where the Harpy had disappeared.

He traced its trajectory mentally. The creature hadn’t flown directly to Han’s position.

It had arced eastward first.

Toward the section Ruan had been defending.

Realisation struck like a hammer.

“Shit!”

The general’s head snapped toward him, following his gaze. Understanding dawned simultaneously, horror replacing satisfaction on his face.

“The eastern wall,” Ruan breathed. “I left it to answer your signal.”

The Harpy’s strategy was finally visible. It hadn’t called the Serpent merely for combat support. The second silver-rank had served a more sinister purpose—drawing Ruan away from his assigned position.

Creating vulnerability through misdirection.

It didn’t escape! It was taking advantage of Ruan’s presence here and his absence there!

“We need to get there, now!” Ethan activated Enhanced Speed before the words fully left his mouth.

The world blurred as he raced toward the eastern wall, Ruan struggling to match his pace. Each heartbeat represented lives potentially lost to the Harpy’s machinations.

They covered half the distance when the first explosions illuminated the night sky. Green-tinged fire erupted along the eastern battlements, the distinctive signature of alchemical compounds igniting in sequential detonation.

How did it know exactly where to strike? The more the battle kept going, the more Ethan became suspicious of Han. He was always in the place where things went wrong.

“It created a diversion,” Ruan gasped as they ran. “Pulled me west while it struck east.”

Ethan nodded grimly. “Classic pincer strategy.”

Another explosion rocked the section, larger than previous detonations. Stonework that had withstood centuries crumbled in seconds, creating a breach large enough for twenty monsters to enter abreast.

Through the gap, bronze-beasts poured into the Second District. Not the scattered remnants from their earlier victory, but fresh forces that had circled the city while defenders focused elsewhere.

The Harpy hovered above the breach, wings generating targeted wind currents that dispersed defenders’ arrows while accelerating its forces’ advance. Energy cascaded from its form, directed not at destruction but at precise control of battlefield conditions.

“How does it coordinate so effectively?” Ruan’s voice carried genuine bewilderment.

Ethan’s silver eyes narrowed as he studied the creature’s movements. “It’s not just intelligent. It’s experienced.”

Indeed, the Harpy’s tactics demonstrated sophisticated understanding of three-dimensional battlefield manipulation.

It created localised weather conditions—headwinds to hamper defenders, tailwinds to accelerate attackers. When archers adjusted their aim to compensate, it shifted wind patterns again, rendering calculated corrections worthless.

They reached the eastern defences as a second breach formed, this one punched through from within. Bronze-beasts that had entered through the first gap had circled behind defender positions, executing a perfect flanking manoeuvre.

Soldiers fought desperately against monsters that attacked from both sides, their discipline fracturing as their survival instinct overwhelmed them.

Some broke ranks to flee deeper into the district, creating gaps that bronze-beasts immediately exploited.

“HOLD YOUR POSITIONS!” Ruan’s voice echoed across the chaotic battlefield.

Ethan’s silver eyes narrowed, his decision made in an instant. “Handle the Harpy. I’ll clear the breach.”

Before Ruan could protest, Ethan launched himself toward the surging monsters. His body blurred with Enhanced Speed, becoming a silver comet that streaked across the desperate defensive line.

A Bronze-rank wolf-beast leading the charge never saw what killed it. Ethan’s dagger opened its throat in passing, the monster collapsing as he targeted its commander next.

Five heartbeats. Seven kills.

Soldiers stared in stunned silence as a single figure carved through monstrous ranks like death incarnate. Ethan moved with stunning speed and grace, each strike sending terror in the hearts of those who saw it.

Ten heartbeats. Fifteen kills.

A massive bear-like beast roared challenge, gathering smaller monsters behind its bulk.

Ethan didn’t slow.

He accelerated.

Fire erupted around his daggers as he activated multiple talents simultaneously. The bear-beast swung massive paws.

Ethan flowed beneath the strike, fire-enhanced blades driving upward through the creature’s jaw into its brain. He pivoted instantly, the beast’s momentum carrying its corpse into three smaller monsters behind it.

Twenty-three kills.

Bronze-beasts approaching from the right flank hesitated, animal instinct recognising the apex predator. Their momentary pause proved fatal as Ethan targeted their formation, his speed transforming him into a silver-wreathed cyclone of blades.

Blood painted broken stone as creatures fell in droves, their coordinated strategy collapsing into panicked individual flight.

A particularly intelligent beast attempted retreat, abandoning its subordinates to save itself. Ethan’s thrown dagger caught it between the vertebrae, the precision of Accuracy Enhancement ensuring its instant death.

Defenders watching from barricades exchanged stunned glances. This wasn’t combat—it was harvesting. One man was single-handedly eliminating monsters that had threatened to overwhelm their entire position moments before.

“Who is this senior?” a young soldier whispered, fear transforming to hesitant hope.

The veteran beside him shook his head in wordless amazement.

Ethan stood amid the carnage, his silver energy cascading from his form. Blood stained his clothing and skin, yet his breathing remained controlled.

He turned toward the watching soldiers.

“What are you doing? Fight! There are hundreds more left. I can’t keep focusing on these small fries.”

The soldiers gulped before nodding their heads, they had gotten more courage seeing him kill monsters like chickens ready for slaughter.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep